Duicker achieves the unthinkable
Tumelo Mouwane | Friday May 26, 2017 14:52
Duicker is not the only coach who took over a club midway through the season. Mogomotsi Mpote was also appointed Township Rollers interim coach during the second round of the league after Mark Harrison’s departure and he successfully led the Blues to the league title.
Usually when a coach takes a team midway through the season, it becomes a challenge for players to swiftly adapt to the new mentor’s way of running affairs.
The current season however was quite interesting in that despite sudden change of coaches, such teams quickly adapted and performed beyond expectations. One such club is Peleng giants, Gunners who have surprised many with their sterling performance in the second round of the league.
When he was bestowed with the responsibility of instructing Mapantsula back in March 18, Duicker found a big lion gasping at its last breath. Gunners were on a gravitational force from the top spot heading down to the bottom. Since he took charge, Gunners have not lost a single match. They played to a 1-1 draw against Township Rollers in his first assignment, after taking over with less than four days before the big encounter. They went onto to win 3-0 in their next game against Gilport Lions. In the last seven games, Gunners have registered four victories and three draws and are currently fourth on the log. Their last match of the season is tomorrow (Saturday) against BDF XI which will determine whether they finish in top four or drop to fifth position provided Gaborone United win their game against Orapa United and they lose. A draw for them will secure fourth spot.
Last year this time, Gunners were in position six. Duicker recently said all he wanted in the remaining games was to build players’ confidence and take Gunners back to its glory days. With top four finish almost secured, Duiker has done relatively well after replacing Daniel Nare. He said they are working together as a unit to achieve the best results for the team. “I always tell my players that they play for a big team and they should show it.
This is my team. I played for it before, so I want to see the team ascending the ladder because that is where we belong. I want to take the team back to its shining days,” he said.
Duicker also said the players now know that they do not just have to keep the ball. “We play the ball for us to win the games. We are working towards taking Gunners to where it belongs,” he promised.